Lifting mechanism for dump bodies of vehicles



AApril 9,l 1935.

G. H. CONNORS LIFTING MECHANISM FOR DUMP BODIES oF VEHICLES Filed NOV. l, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet l Illuu...

April 9, 1935- G. H. coNNoRs 1,997,104

` LIFTING MECHANISM FOR DUMP BODIES OF VEHICLES Filed Nov. 1,. 1952 4 SheetsSheet 2 3mm GEORGE d. Co/v/voRs- April 9, 1935. G. H. coNNoRs LIFTING MECHANISM FOR DUMP BODIES OF VEHICLES Filed Nov. 1, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 April 9, 1935. G, H, coNNoRs LIFTING MECHANISM FOR'DUMP BODIES OF VEHICLES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 1, 1932 Syvum/vim N N l\ w f H. m m G Ginn/way;

Patented Apr. 9, 1935 LIFTING MEoHANIsM Fon DUMP'lBoDIEs f 1 oF .VEHICLES f ",(Sleorgey H. Connors, Edgerton, Wis.,'a`ssrign`or tol-v Highway Trailer'Company, Edgerton, Wis.,"a` l corporation v .application November 1, 1932, ,serialfNa 640,721

v a Claims .(CL 29e-i213,

The mechanism of thepresentinvention provides substantial improvements in lifting instrumentalities for the bodies of dump vehicles, such as trucksfrom which sand, gravel or the like is to l be dumped and distributed on aroadway,1or for thev so-called transit-mixers for mixingconcrete inA road building operations, or in general, for anypurpose where thev vehicle body is to be elevated and tilted to discharge the contents thereof. f

One feature ofr the present` invention lies in the provision of powerl transmitting rinstrumentalities for the lifting mechanism and operable from the source of power of the Vehicle, kwhich power transmitting instrumentalities are separate and distinct from the power'transmission for drivingv the vehicle, mechanism being provided for automatically rendering inoperative the said Y power transmitting instrumentalities when the vehicle body has reached its maximum elevation for dumping purposes, and'also when the body has fully returned to horizontal, or charging, po-

pliiied forceV transmitting system operated byA the rotation of a screw driven by the said power transmitting instrumentalities. f

The structural details of the improved mechanism will: be described in detail hereinafter, it being understood, of course, thatA various details of the construction may be modiiied Without departing Vfrom the spirit of the invention, and that the Vspecic forms'of the construction'shown in the accompanying ldrawings 'are to beregarded only as illustrative of convenient detailsy of the construction. l

. 11n the drawings:- 'v v Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a Vehicle providedv with a` dump" bodyactuated by Vthe mechanism of the-present invention, parts of! the vehicle being brokenaway to InoreclearlyY show certain details of the improved construction.

e Figure V2 is a vertical sectional ViewV through the body and lifting mechanism, the View being the directionr of the arrows; i

. Figure 3 lis a rear view of the lifting mechanism, the body beingshown'fragmentarily. i i I Figure 4 is a gragmentary vside elevation, similar in general to Figure 1,but showing asomewhat moded formofL lifting mechanism for the Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view, taken on. the line 5--5 ofv Figurel4. Figure 6 isfa' side elevation vof'a housing containing reduction gearing for actuating the lifting instrumentalities the gearing being indicated fragmentarily in dotted lines.y

' Figure 7 isa verticalsection through the housingof Figure," taken on the line 1-1 of FigureV 6, looking in the direction of the arrows.q

Figure 8` is anotheryertical section through taken on vtheline'fZZ ofFigure 1,.loovking in the housing of Figure 6, taken on 'the line 8--8 of Figure 6, looking in the" direction of the arrowsg'" y j Figure 9is an Aendview of a nutand nuthous- -ing operating'on theaforesaid screw, and servlakczt'uating member. for the nut'housing taken'on the line Ill-I0 of Figure 9, looking ,inVthe' direction of the arrows, iFigure 11 is a bottom View of one form of rmember designed for maximum Astrength and minimum Weight.

' Figure "12 is a side 'view Figure 11. n l

Referringfmore particularly tothe drawings,

A representsfa vehicular dump body which may be of anykind, such. as, forexample,v a transit ci? the member of n Y mixer'vfor concrete, or any vform of body,l but illustrate/d asl a usual dump body for a truck, which is mounted upon avehiclechassis B,;and shown as resting, when ,in charging position, upon wooden sillsC. In Fig'ure 1` the Wooden sills andglongitudinal frame memberare illustrated as being cut away to better showthe hoist or lift` mechanism. Y

mechanism .is duplicated on each side of the machine,fand hence only onezside needs tol be described. /Thei mechanism is shown as comprising a lever 2*.and`aforce applying member I which maytakethe form of a link pivotally interconnected at 3, this interconnectionbeing intermediate theends of the-lever 2.* l l 5 to skid 6,*operatingagainst the skid rails-'T during actuation of thebody A, as will become apparent hereinafter.

position. Y

`marlnel2 One end of the member I is connected to the lever 2 at 3, as has been described. The other end of memberV I is pivotally mounted on a shaft 8, said Vshaft carrying rollers 9 which run on rails I0, lasrwill be described also in` more detail hereinafter. -Y V,-

'Ihis -shaft 8, as will be apparentV from the drawings, extends through the nut housing II from side to side, operating in the bearing I2,

which forms a housing for 'thejshaft/ @this bearing being an integral part of the nut housing II.. The nuthousing I I is secured around the nut I3, which is internally threadedkat' Il to'v travel along the `threadsoi' the screw shaft I5 when this screw shaft is suitably rotated. Upon suchrotation, therefore, the housing II travels along the screw shaft in a direction depending upon the direction of rotation of the screw, with corresponding vactuation of thegmembers I andV 2. When the housingIIand n ut II-move rearwardly of the vehicle-the rollers' 8 move along the rails I0 Yto lift the pivotal connection I'be-p Y of the vehicle, but forming a distinct unit from the transmission for drivingthe vehicle. This gearing is 'not`shown, beingizheV standard gearing for rotation vin Opposite` direction, operable'by suitable manipulation of lever I8 in well known Power from this gearing is. takenioff by'means of shaft I9 provided with universal Y joints 20,'V by meansfof which a vsproclietfZIvv is driven. By means'of a: chain 22, Vsprockei'f2I` drives sprocket V23 mounted on shaftl24 to which lshaft is keyed the reduction pinion 25, which meshes with gear 26, keyed, or otherwise suitably secured`to the screw shaft I5. 'I'herefore,}by. Vsuitable manipulationoi' leverV I 8, the screw I5 may be rotated so as either to adva'ncelor fretract the nut housing II, to.correspond'n'g1y lift or lower the vehicle body.V i j K Since, fhowever, it is desirable tovinterrupt the rotation of thescrew I5 at the tignes whenV the body is raised Vto its maximum dumping position and'restored to its horizontal loading position,

provision is` madefor autornatically;V shifting 'the aforesaidY power transmission gearingV to neutral position, responsively to the' assumption byv the body of the discharging and loading positions,

in this'way'assuringproper power cut-olf with'- out relying upon manual manpulationlof the gears forthi'szpurpose. Y f

To this end, there is provided a'rod'21which is actuatedV initially'bylever I8, vand which carries `the trip levers.28 andf28; or, moreiexactly, the

trip levers V28 i and 29 Yare interconnected by a second rodV 38, as` will be apparent from Figure 1. The rollers 9' operate along thetops'of the' rails between thesetrip Vlevers and'actuateithese levers by engagement therewith at such'` times as the l truck body is raised to its maximum dumping positionV and 'is returned to itsJhorizontal loading position, thereby at .suchtimes shifting the power f While the levers I and 2.may be'of any that shown in Figures ll and' 12 maybe men-i transmissiongearing in housing II into neutral, through actuation of Arods and 21, thereby interrupting, automatically, the power transmis- Y sion to the screw I5.

This action will be clearly understood by a consideration of the following explanation.

Assume the vehicle body is loaded and readyto be lifted to dumping position. 'Ihe screw I5 is inoperative; that is, the gearing in housing I1 is in neutral position. Now to actuate the screw I5 in order to lift the vehicle body, lever I8 is manip- Vulated to shift thegears so that screw I5 will rotate in one direction according to Vwhether screw threads are right or left handV threads, This shifting of the gearsoperates rods 21 and 38 to incline the trip levers toward the front of the vehicle. e Y

yNowashousing I`I moves along the threads of the screw I5, member I, carried thereby, is raised Y to lift lever 2 to elevate the body, rollers 9 facilitating the action by reducing friction, these rollers traveling on Athe rails I8 until they reach the dotted line position in Figure l. y'I'he lrollers-8 then engage the inclined lever 28 and press lever *28" into a'substantially. upright position, thereby pushing upon rods 38 and 21, automatically shifting the gears into neutral and stopping the rotation of screw I5 as `the body A 'assumesits dumpingfposition. Y i @v To return the body A to loading position, lever I8 is manuallyoperatedto shift thev gearsfrom Y neutral into reverse, when screw I5 will be driven in opposite direction to retract the housing I I and lower the `lever system.Y This shiftingv of the gears into reverse inclines `the -trip levers towards the rear of thevehicle, Ywhereby leverA 29 is tripped by Y rollers 9` asthe body returns to horizontal position, Vthereby again automatically shiftingthe gears into neutral position andstopping the rotationof thescrew I5. o e p Should itv be desired to stop the movement of the body at .any point intermediate its extreme positions, this may be accomplished by manually shifting the lever I8 to bring the gears into -neutral. vThe Yinvention therefore provides both an' automatic and a manual control for the body actuating mechanism. t Y .j

j-.To prevent dirt and the like from working into thescrew I5, there is providedashield 3i, which substantially encloses the screw I5.k

tionedvas combining strength andrigidity' with comparative lightness in weight. rThe levers are shown asV provided zwith bearings l32 .at each 'end of the arm 23.

The pinion 25 and gear 26` are contained'in the housing 34'.y r The modification shown inFigures 4 fand 5i's very simmer to the construction iustdescnbed, l with the exception-that the levers I and 12 have 1 been replaced by a single arm Ia, and-theihousing 34 has been extended to include the slidably mounted` rod 35 which engages thev trip lever 25a under Apressure of the roller 9a as the vehicle body is returned to horizontal position, thereby shifting the gears to neutral, as already. has been described'. Y a In vthe modiiication of'Figures 4 'and-'5, the links Ia may be interconnected byY the bar 86, which carries Ythe skids `6. In this form, the links la are fxedly pivoted to the brackets 8a at `the vpoints tb, the brackets 6a being showny as bolted in position in Figure 5. n

In the rst mentioned construction the skids 6 may be replaced by rollers, if desired.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. Lifting mechanism for vehicle bodies comprising, in combination, lifting members for the body, actuating mechanism for the said members including a rotatable screw shaft, a housing mounted on the shaft for travel therealong and pivotally connected with the'said members, roller means at said pivotal connection, guide tracks therebeneath for relieving the screw of downward thrusts on said members and for guiding the pivotal connection in a substantially horizontal path longitudinally of the vehicle incident to operation of the screw shaft, the said members being arranged to exert-.upwardly directedl forces against the said body to lift the said body as the housing travels in one direction along the said screw shaft and to lower the said body to horizontal position upon rotation of the shaft in the opposite direction, power transmitting instrumentalities for driving the said screw shaft comprising transmission gearing, a power transmission shaft actuated from the said gearing; power take-off means for taking power from the said transmission shaft to the said screw shaft for driving the said screw shaft, and means for automatically rendering inoperative the power transmitting lmechanism when thebody is raised to dumping position and when returned to load'` ing position, the said means comprising gear shifting Arods and trip levers for actuating the said rods, said trip levers being mounted in the path of one of said rollers whereby upon movement of the said lifting members through a predetermined distance, the roller means will engage the said trip levers to actuate the gear shifting rods for shifting the transmission gearing into neutral position. y

2. Lifting mechanism for vehicle bodies comprising, in combination yinterconnected lifting members, one of the said members vcomprising levers being pivotally anchored at` one end to the usual frame of the vehicle, the other end of the lever being in slidable engagement with the body of the vehicleythe other of said members comprising a link interconnected to the aforesaid lever and adapted to move the aforesaid lever upon movement of the link longitudinally of the vehicle frame, actuating means for'the said link including a rotatably mounted threaded shaft, a housing threadedly mounted on the said shaft for movement therealong responsive to rotation of the shaft, the said housing being operatively interconnected to the said link for movement thereof with the said housing, and power transmitting mechanism for operating the saidV screw shaft comprising shiftable transmissiony gearing, a transmission shaft operable by the said gearing, gear shifting rods and trip levers on the said rods for actuating the same uponmovement of the said link through a predetermined distance for engagement of the said link 'with the trip levers, thereby actuating the said rods to automatically shift the said gearing into neutralposi-r tion responsively to movements of the vehicle body to dumping and charging positions to thereby interrupt the transmission of power to the said screw shaft when the vehicle body has assumed v l dumping and charging positions respectively, and manually operable gear shifting instrumentalities for operating the gearing for lifting and lowering the said body and for shifting the said gearing to. itssneutral position to hold the saidbody in any predetermined position between the extreme positions of dumping and loading. l

3. In combination with a vehicle having a dump body'thereon adapted tobe tilted to elevate one end thereof for the purpose of dumping the body, anapparatusffor raising and lowering said Ydump body which comprises a thrustmember pivotally. connected tothe dump body at one end and being free to move ywith respect to the frame ofthe vehicle at the other end, rollers associated with saidV other end, said rollers riding on the frame of said vehicle, actuating means for saidthrust member includingv a rotatablymounted threaded shaft, a housing'threadedly mounted'` on said shaft for movement therealong respon'- sive to rotation of the shaft, the said housing being operatively interconnectedto the thrust member for movement with saidhousing, power transmitting mechanism for operating the said screw shaft, comprising shiftable transmission gearing, a transmission shaft operable`v by the said gearing, gear shifting rods, and trip levers onthe said rods for actuating the same upon movement of the said thrust 'Y member to-bring said rollers* into engagement with the saidtrip lever, thereby .actuating the. said rods to automatically shift the said gearing into neutral position responsively to movements of the vehicle body to dumping and charging positions to thereby interrupt the transmission of power to the said screw shaft whenv the vehicle body has asysumed dumping and charging positions respec- 

